In case you haven’t heard, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) needs to listen to from you on marijuana rescheduling. Particularly, DEA invitations your feedback on its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to maneuver each marijuana and marijuana extract from schedule I to schedule III of the federal Managed Substances Act (CSA). The remark submission deadline is July 22, 2024.
How does the remark deadline work?
There are literally two deadlines at play right here. All feedback should be submitted electronically or postmarked on or earlier than 11:59 ET on July 22, 2024. All listening to requests should be postmarked on or earlier than July 20, 2024. It’s all the time potential that DEA will lengthen the deadlines previous July 20 and 22, however it appears unlikely at this level. Subsequently, you must adjust to the July 22 deadline to make it into the executive document, and the July 20 deadline when you’d additionally wish to request a listening to.
How does one submit a remark?
DOJ encourages submission of feedback by means of the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Right here is the link. The interface gives the power to kind quick feedback instantly into the remark area on the net web page, or to connect a file for lengthier feedback.
I’m busy. Is there a pattern remark I can adapt?
Sure, there are a few good ones on-line. Marijuana Coverage Undertaking, for instance, has a template letter you possibly can edit and submit here. NORML has one here. I’m certain there are others floating round as effectively.
What number of feedback has DEA acquired?
Appears like over 30,000 on the time of this writing. I initially guessed we might see over 100,000 feedback. I could have overshot, however I nonetheless count on a major uptick by subsequent Monday.
What if I wish to advocate that marijuana be re-scheduled and never de-scheduled?
You possibly can definitely try this! I and lots of others have all the time argued that de- and never re-scheduling is the right coverage selection for marijuana. I count on that a good portion of the feedback will advocate for de-scheduling. Others will make arguments on the opposite finish of the coverage spectrum: marijuana ought to stay in schedule I with fentanyl and different harmful medication.
Wherever you land on the subject, it’s value mentioning that DEA suggested at web page 13 of the NPRM that it “has not but made a dedication as to its views of the suitable schedule for marijuana.” That is but one more reason the remark alternative is so compelling.
The rest to contemplate within the feedback?
Sure. I defined in a prior post that the NPRM contemplates “marijuana-specific controls” at schedule III, though the NPRM itself doesn’t define what these particular controls could also be. It’s unclear (no less than to me) whether or not DOJ and DEA may proceed with rescheduling marijuana prior to those controls being in place. Thus, I imagine it’s honest recreation to touch upon what controls ought to appear like, and/or whether or not we even want them within the first place.
What’s the subsequent step?
As soon as feedback are in, the Administrative Process Act requires that rulemaking be performed on the document after the chance for a listening to in entrance of an administrative regulation choose. It appears probably that the DEA administrator will grant a request for a listening to on this case, so as to evaluate factual proof and knowledgeable opinion on the NPRM.
Past that, you possibly can count on this course of to be ongoing on the time of the November elections. No matter occurs in these elections may additionally have an effect on the end result. However that may be a matter for an additional day.
Till then, please hold subsequent week’s deadlines in place, and take a look at the next posts on marijuana and schedule III:
